June 2012

On June 27, the CA Superior Court issued a ruling finding that LAUSD has failed to comply with Proposition 39 and its implementing regulations in calculating school space, including the number of classrooms, offered to charter schools for the 2012-13 school year.

The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Los Angeles Unified School District in a lawsuit brought by the UTLA challenging the District’s 2007 approval of Green Dot Public School’s Locke High School conversion.

The charter school movement is dependent upon the hard work of visionary founders, leaders, and authorizers, plus dedicated teachers and volunteers and inspired students. The Association is proud to recognize several of them this month.

On Wednesday June 27, the Oakland Unified School Board is set to vote on a plan to include a facilities bond measure on the November ballot. However, 20% of the public school students in Oakland are being left out of the bond.

Looking for a scary story to tell around the campfire this summer? Look no further than some of the challenges that charter schools have faced around renewals over the last year. Don’t get trapped in an ugly renewal game!

Yesterday, the Gompers story came full circle with the graduation of its first senior class. CCSA was there to capture the graduation ceremony, talking to some of the graduating seniors and adults who were instrumental in the Gompers conversion.

In addition to allowing your school to explore alternative special education arrangements, submitting a letter of intent to exit your Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) can serve as a valuable bargaining tool with your authorizer.

A backroom decision by the Legislature to remove charter school categorical block grant growth funding means a cut of approximately $100 per charter school student. Act now to demand the restoration of this funding!

This year’s Golden State graduates have been accepted to prestigious colleges and universities across the nation, including Howard University, University of California - Santa Cruz and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Some days we can forget why we signed up to advocate for charter public schools. We constantly have to battle those whose only interest is stopping charters from flourishing in California. Or we have to explain for the umpteenth time how our schools are being hurt by funding inequities and delays.

There are currently a couple dozen Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools that have petitioned to become “affiliated” charter schools. These petitions were presented to the LAUSD board on May 1, and are expected to be voted on in June.

Port of Los Angeles High School (POLAHS) received a $20,000 grant from The Crail Johnson Foundation last month - an award that will directly benefit the nearly 10% of POLAHS’ population that is identified as intellectually or developmentally disabled.